


Humanity is Falling

by angels_and_outlaws



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Demon!Dean AU, Fallen Castiel, Immediately After SPN 9x23, M/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:19:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1679645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angels_and_outlaws/pseuds/angels_and_outlaws
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Immediately following the ending of S9 E23, Dean wakes up to find that he's no longer human. How will Sam and Cas handle his death and the knowledge that Dean is now one of the monsters they always swore to hunt? And what is Crowley planning for Dean now that he's become a demon as powerful as Cain?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Humanity is Falling

This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to have happened.  He had said he was ready for everything to be over, no matter the consequences, no matter if it killed him. And in the end, as Sammy was clutching onto him for dear life-so terrified to let his big brother fade into oblivion-he realized he'd never been ready. Dean Winchester, the big bad hunter who had already seen death so many times and come back to life just as many times-was not ready to face death a final time. He had promised his dad years ago that he would always protect Sammy and never leave him. But then he got so overtaken with the need to defeat Abaddon-and subsequently Metatron-that he completely lost sight of that promise. He became more and more distant from Sammy and Cas as the effects of the Mark of Cain took over. And only in his dying moments did he remember all of the promises he'd ever made to his baby brother and his angel.

 

But now he was a whole new beast entirely. He was stuck within his own thoughts, somewhere between life and death, too terrified to even think about what he'd become. He kept hoping against all the odds that he was just seconds away from letting death envelop him. That Death himself would greet him in mere moments to escort him into the afterlife. That moment never came, however. What did come was Crowley's voice, smooth as silk amidst all of the chaos and turmoil that was his mind. He listened silently, unable to breathe--oh god, why didn't he need to breathe?--as Crowley spoke to him.

 

"Your brother--bless his soul--is summoning me as I speak." Crowley sighed out, "Make a deal. Bring you back. It's exactly what I was talking about isn't it? It's all become so...expected."

 

He paused, looking at Dean with something akin to sadness in his eyes.

 

"You have to believe me. When I suggested you take on the Mark of Cain, I didn't know this was going to happen...not really. I mean, I might not have told you the entire...truth, but I never lied. I never lied, Dean. That's important. It's fundamental. But...there is one story about Cain that I might've...forgotten to tell you. Apparently, he too, was willing to accept death rather than becoming the killer the mark wanted him to be. So he took his own life with the blade. He died. Except, as rumor has it, the mark never quite let go..."

 

Crowley reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the First Blade, examining it in his fingers as he continued his speech, "You can understand why I never spoke of this. Why set hearts aflutter at mere speculation?"

 

He smirked to himself--as if remembering an important detail that most would have overlooked-as he rose from the chair, holding the First Blade in front of him. He walked towards Dean, where he lay lifelessly on the bed.

 

"It wasn't until you summoned me. No, it wasn't truly until you left that cheeseburger uneaten--" He placed the first blade in Dean's hand, closed his fingers around it, and pulled Dean's hand up to rest over his chest, "--that I began to let myself believe. Maybe miracles do come true. Listen to me, Dean Winchester. What you're feeling right now? It's not death. It's life...a new _kind_ of life. Open your eyes, Dean. **See what I see. Feel what I feel.** Let's go take a howl at that moon."

 

The moment Dean opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't human anymore. That much was obvious, given the fact that when stabbed in the chest, he wasn't even granted the wish for death. He knew what he was. He was a demon now. The monster that his father had hunted since Dean was four years old. The monster that Dean would learn to fight and kill as he grew up. A real monster.

 

He attempted to get up from the bed, but his head was swimming, so he settled on resting on his elbows and examining his hands and arms as all of the wounds Metatron had inflicted on him slowly dissipated into nothing, leaving smooth skin. Although he never wanted to be this, he could feel himself beginning to let go of everything that had once tormented him. It seemed as if all of the pain of being a human had been locked inside a box in the back of his mind, never to hurt him again. He could get used to not feeling anything painful anymore. It was like a weight that dragged him down his whole life was lifted off of his chest and he could breathe again--although he didn't even have to breath anymore, which was still something to get used to.

 

"First things first, how about you try to slip back into those pretty green eyes of yours?"  Just concentrate on what it is you are aiming to do, and do it." Crowley said, gaining Dean's attention.

 

 He sat up and concentrated, but at first he couldn’t sense anything changing. There were quite a few tries and fails over the next twenty minutes, ending with him groaning in frustration.

 

 "Don't hurt yourself, Dean. Don't think. Just see it in your mind and make it happen." Crowley said, amused at the elder Winchester's frustration.

 

 He closed his eyes and focused harder, picturing his own human eyes in his mind, before they changed from the pitch black that came with being a demon to the candy apple green he'd been used to his entire life. At least he still had that. He wouldn't have to deal with having black eyes 24/7. That might make things pretty awkward for everyone around him that _wasn't_ a demon.

 

"You're a son of a bitch, you know that, Crowley?" Dean said as he turned to face the King of Hell himself, voice hoarse and deeper than normal from everything he'd gone through. His jaw set and he ground his teeth as Crowley only smirked at him, "This would have been something good to know _before_ I took on the Mark of Cain."

 

"Would it have really changed anything, Squirrel? Would you have just given up on killing Abaddon and protecting humanity because you didn't accept the mark?"

 

Dean thought about it for a moment, knowing that Crowley was right. Come hell or high water, when it came to ridding the world of "evil", he'd never give up, no matter the cost. It always came down to doing whatever it took to save the world. After all, Dean had always been a good little soldier, fighting the fight until it was done. Seeing it through or having to live with himself not doing anything, which was something he just could never handle.

 

"No..."

 

"Well then, let's let bygones be bygones th--"

 

" _ **Dean?!**_ " Sam exclaimed as Dean's eyes snapped up to the doorway to see his little brother. He had just entered the doorway, swaying slightly, his cheeks completely tear-stained and flushed. There were tears flowing freely from his blood-shot eyes as well. Sam stood there shocked for mere seconds before bounding into the room and practically pouncing on Dean, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. It would have probably crushed his bones, too, had it not been for him having supernatural strength from the mark and being a demon.

 

"Hey there, Sammy. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm right here." Dean said, muffled, as his arms wrapped around his baby brother, careful not to hug him too tightly back.

 

"But how are you okay, Dean? How are you ali--" That was when Sam noticed Crowley. He was once again sitting in the chair by the bedroom door with his hands clasped together.

 

"Crowley? Did you bring him back? But...how? We haven't even discussed the..."

 

Crowley's expression seemed to soften--which was nearly invisible to the human eye--as he saw Dean behind Sam, pleading with his eyes not to tell his baby brother the truth. If Sammy knew that it was the mark that brought Dean back a demon, he'd be devastated. Dean would explain everything himself after things had cooled down a little--when Sammy wasn't drunk, emotional, and hanging on by a thread.

 

"What, the deal you were going to make to bring your dear big brother back? Consider it a freebie, Moose. Don't ever repeat that I've said this or I will hunt you down, but you and your brother helped me reclaim my throne in Hell and Abaddon is dead. I felt that warranted a....good...deed on my part. To express my appreciation, you could say. Plus....I seem to have taken a...liking to you and Squirrel."

 

Sam didn't know what to say. He had wanted to kill Crowley for so long that he never realized that even though Crowley played for his own benefit, he'd chosen the brothers' side over others in the end. Maybe Crowley did have some humanity in him still, like an after-effect of the trials when he'd tried to cure him.

 

"Th--Thank you...Crowley."

 

"Uhh...Sammy? You can let me go now..." Dean said as he patted his brother's back, careful again not to use too much strength or the younger brother would know something was up.

 

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to--I'm just glad you're back, Dean." Sam sniffled, moving into a sitting position on the end of the bed, and using the sleeves of his shirt to wipe the tears from his face.

 

"Well, not to interrupt this beautiful moment, but I must really be getting back to my kingdom. I'll see you around, boys." Crowley said as he winked at Dean and vanished from the room, leaving the two brothers to themselves.

 

"I'll uh--I'll give you a little time to yourself..." Sam stood up from the bed and made his way to the door, "I'm uh--I don't know what I would have done if--nevermind. What matters is you're here."

 

"I know." Dean smiled as his little brother left the room.

 

 

~*~*~*~

 

 

Letting Metatron live and only imprisoning him was about the hardest thing Castiel had ever had to do in the many years he's been alive. Metatron didn't deserve to be alive when Dean--oh God, he couldn't even think about it. How could Dean be...dead? He had assumed at first that Metatron had to be lying until he pulled out his angel blade and saw blood--Dean's blood--covering the blade.

 

 Right then was the moment that all of the emotions he'd learned about during his time as a human exploded through every cell in his body. He felt anguish at the mere thought of the human that he had done everything for since the moment he'd gripped him and raised him from Hell. From the moment he'd seen Dean's soul--which was so bright, even he had to shield his eyes--his own heart and soul had only ever belonged to Dean. And yet for 5 years, he'd never been able to admit to himself **why** he did everything for Dean. Human emotions had been so foreign to him, but now he knew. _Because God willed it_ had been a lie he didn't even realize he was telling to himself and everyone around him. He was truly and irrevocably in love with Dean Winchester--only to have him torn away from him before he'd even realized it. And even now, he wasn't even able to avenge his death by killing Metatron. 

 

He was so caught up in his downwards spiral of grief over the righteous man that he'd tried too hard to protect that he didn't realize that there was someone out there grieving just as deep as he was, if not deeper. Sam. Although the younger brother's soul had been tainted by Azazel and Lucifer over the years, Sam still had a heart of gold and Castiel couldn't begin imagine what he was going through. He had to get back to the bunker--where he surely knew that Sam would have gone--to ensure that Sam didn't do anything crazy. Dean would have wanted him to watch over Sam and protect him. Making up his mind, and leaving Metatron in the hands of the thousands of angels he'd blatantly lied to, he made his way out of Heaven and to the bunker. He just hoped he'd get there in time to save Sam from himself.


End file.
